Housing Benefit

[oscartony]

I have just realised today that we have been paying rent for 3 years in our home and are actually entitled to Housing Benefit/council tax benefit, my partner works 20 hrs a week we have 2 children and i am disabled due to an accident, is it possible to claim back rent we have paid?

[halfadaily]

I got this from the CAB site.

Getting Housing Benefit backdated


You may be able to get some Housing Benefit for a period before you make your claim if you could have claimed earlier. Getting benefit for a period before you claim is called �backdating�. You can get backdated Housing Benefit for up to 52 weeks if you can show you have a good reason for not claiming earlier, for example, you were given wrong advice. You also have to show that you were entitled to Housing Benefit throughout the period of backdating � that you were paying rent, and your income was low enough. You will not usually get any backdated benefit just because you did not know that you could make a claim. You should explain on your claim form that you want to claim benefit from an earlier date, and give your reasons for failing to claim earlier.



If you want to claim backdated Housing Benefit, you should consult an experienced adviser, for example, at a Citizens Advice Bureau. To search for details of your nearest CAB, including those that can give advice by email, click on nearest CAB.

[sandbach99]

Ring 0800 88 22 00 Free phone Benefits for people with disabilities, you may also be missing other benefits.